Charity
by Silvershadowfire
Summary: Sometimes charity doesn't come where you expect it.


Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh or any characters thereof.

A/N: Dedicated to Maggiemay, who wanted to read it, and to Seti, who helped me wrestle the plotbunny into submission at 3 am.

Charity

"Oh thank you dear." The Catholic nun who ran the Sakura Orphanage smiled at Anzu, her eyes wrinkled in an otherwise smooth face, surrounded by the black and white bib and veil of her Order.

"You're more than welcome." Anzu smiled back as she helped Sister Mary Catherine unload the bags of groceries for the thirty or so children that she and her sisters cared for. Domino High had a requirement that students had to commit to so many hours of community service before they could graduate; Anzu, Yuugi and Jou had all been assigned to the orphanage. "There's not as much this week."

"No..." The nun shook her head, heavy cloth swaying as she put the food away. Cheap, of course; this orphanage had barely enough funds from the government to keep the children fed and clothed. Even now her sisters who could be spared from caring for the children were out begging for food and supplies. "But God will provide."

"I hope so." Anzu sighed, looking around. The building was in a terrible state; the distant sound of a hammer indicated where Jou and Yuugi were fixing up the place so that it would withstand the weather again. Domino was on the coast; one good typhoon and the whole building could come down.

Laughter came from the back yard, where the younger children played under the watchful eye of Ryou. Their volunteer time had actually been up two weeks ago, but the teens – joined by the white haired hikari and Honda – had kept coming every Saturday afternoon to help out. Anzu smiled in that direction as she stood on tiptoes, helping to put the groceries away.

"You're such a dear." Sister Mary Catherine patted Anzu's shoulder. "I don't know what we'll do without you and your friends."

"You make it sound like we're going somewhere." Anzu laughed.

"No... well, you're not. But as of next week, we will be." The nun folded her hands in her sleeves. "The building and land has been purchased... we've just received notification that we're being evicted."

"What..?" Anzu gasped. "But what will happen to you and your sisters... to the children?"

"I don't know... well we can go back to the convent, of course. But I don't know what will become of our children."

The teenager's mouth firmed. "Can you buy it back? If you got the money?"

"Well yes, perhaps, but we don't."

"I know someone who does." Determination firmed her pretty features as she left the nun and went to find the others. "Guys, I have to go for a bit."

"Where?" Yuugi asked in confusion. He looked kind of funny covered in sawdust with a hammer in one hand and his other hand covered in bruises and cuts, but his eyes were bright.

"To see Seto Kaiba. The orphanage is going to be closed down, and he has the money to help them."

"Might be better ta try Mokuba..." Jou suggested. "He's easier ta get a to do anything than Kaiba is."

"He's not legal age though." Anzu disagreed. "I might tell him though and get him to help me convince Kaiba."

"That's a plan." Ryou smiled. "Good luck, Anzu-chan."

"Thanks. I'm going to need it." She gave them all a wave and went to put her coat on, running for the uptown bus.

Though it was Saturday afternoon, Anzu knew she could find Seto at Kaiba Corp. It wasn't like he had any other life... which was sad, really. He even neglected his little brother, not that Mokuba could or would see it. He worshipped the ground his brother walked on, poor kid. Anzu raked her hair out of her eyes as she exited the bus a block from KC Tower and paced towards the tall landmark building. The cars were thick as ever in the downtown district of Domino, and the click of her boot heels on the concrete was lost in the ever present din of motors. Trotting across the street, she bypassed a tourist group and the giant Blue Eyes White Dragon statues that roared outside the front doors, marking Kaiba's personal domain. Frankly she found it amusing that he refused to have anything to do with Egypt or magic, but still retained the image of a monster that he had become attached to in his past life as his personal totem. The brunet amused herself with a mental image of the most powerful man in Japan sleeping with a BEWD plushy to guard his bed.

The inside of the building was quiet on a Saturday, so Anzu made her way through the echoing main entrance to the reception desk, suddenly glad she wore a pair of sensible white pants and a nice green blouse instead of her usual miniskirt and gogo boots, or her school uniform. If she wanted to be taken seriously by the professional looking woman at the desk, she had to look serious. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon." The pretty woman at the desk was easily a decade Anzu's senior, in the bloom of her youth and beauty but with a sensible glint to her eye and a professional mien. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I would like to see Kaiba Seto-san. It's important."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No..." Damnit. "Can you at least call him? He knows me, my name is Mazaki Anzu."

"I really can't, if you're not on the list. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Shina-san, she's with me." A hand took her arm, and Anzu looked into the bright grey eyes of fourteen year old Kaiba Mokuba. He'd grown a lot in two years; the youth was of a height with Ryou, though not as tall as Bakura or his brother. "Come on up, Anzu-chan."

"Thanks Mokuba-kun." She smiled in relief. Just the person she wanted to see... The younger Kaiba brother had finally outgrown his yellow vest phase and now wore a tasteful, expensive suit in dark blue. "You look good. Coming in to work?"

"Just went to get lunch." He held up a pair of bento boxes in a bag. "You know how Niisama is, if I don't feed him then he won't eat." He led her onto the express elevator.

"How true." Anzu laughed a moment before sobering. "I do need to see your brother, Mokuba. I need to ask him a favor."

"Oh?"

"Yes." She fidgeted a bit, then sternly told her hands to stop moving. "You know the Sakura Orphanage?"

"Hmm... not off the top of my head, though it sounds familiar." The elevator dinged and they got out.

"They're in danger of closing. He has the money to help them... their land's been bought and they're scheduled to be evicted. That's thirty kids who won't have a home, Mokuba."

"So you came here to ask Niisama to save it?"

"Yes. Do you think he will?"

"Dunno..." Mokuba shrugged. "But I'm sure he'll at least listen to you." The younger Kaiba knocked once on the door and let himself in, waving Anzu to follow. Anzu noticed that his secretary wasn't in; at least his staff didn't work the hours their boss did.

"Niisama... lunch. And Anzu-chan wants to talk to you."

The blue – eyed CEO of Kaiba Corp looked up from his laptop as they entered, his gaze cool and businesslike. "Thank you Mokuba. What is it Mazaki? I don't have a lot of time for idle chit chat." He opened the bento Mokuba had brought him with precise movements.

His attitude was so infuriating. Anzu schooled her features though; you didn't scold someone you came to ask favors of. "Kaiba-san, thank you for seeing me so abruptly. I work with the sisters at Sakura Orphanage, and I came to ask you to help them. Their land's been bought up and they're going to be evicted. Those kids have no where to go..."

"What do you want from me?" the brunet asked coldly. "That has nothing to do with Kaiba Corp. We're a gaming company, not a real estate agency."

Anzu's temper flared, but she kept a lid on it. "I know, but you have the money and those nuns do good work. They don't have the money to keep the place fixed up never mind buy the land."

Cold blue eyes simply watched her.

"Please? You can't just sit there and let those kids get thrown out! That's beneath you..."

"Many things are beneath me."

Oh he was so infuriating! Good thing Jou wasn't here, the blonde would have exploded by now. "You can do something about it though! It's the right thing to do!"

"It's not Kaiba Corp business." the CEO cut her off flatly. "Kaiba Corp has nothing to do with any of this. And you have no right to come in here and demand anything of me. It's not like we're friends, Mazaki."

"You..." The teen sputtered and lost her temper. "You are such a jerk! I didn't come in here to ask for myself, but for the kids! Don't you care about anything but your precious Kaiba Corp?"

No answer. Simply an ice-blue, cool stare. Then Seto pointedly turned to his meal.

"Argh! Fine! We'll do it ourselves then! I'm sure the REST of the class wouldn't mind having a fund raiser to help them! Bakura's right... you have machine oil in your veins, not blood. I hope you and your precious company are very happy together!"

"I trust you can find your own way out... or do I need to call security?"

She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, fuming. That... that... asshole! He just sat there, not a care in the world and _ate his lunch_ while those kids were under threat. He could have helped them from his petty cash. "Selfish arrogant jerk." She was nearly in tears when she hit the front entrance, but her determination carried her through the door and outside. "We'll find a way!" she vowed.

"Little hard on her, weren't you Niisama?" Mokuba asked mildly after Anzu's dramatic exit.

"Hn." Seto snorted and ate a piece of sushi.

"She's only trying to help those kids."

Another snort, then Seto reached into his desk and pulled out a stack of files. "She's a short-sighted and foolish young woman."

"With a good heart."

The CEO handed his brother the files. "Heart doesn't get you far without brains."

"True enough." He'd talk to Anzu later, arrange a transfer of funds. It wasn't like he had anything to do with his allowance except spend it on video games. Mokuba was a little disappointed himself as he rose and went to his own office. After all, it wasn't like they didn't know what it was like to not have parents.

He flopped in his chair and started going through the pile Seto had handed to him. Resource transfer, resource transfer... personnel requests, screened resumes... Mokuba made a face as he filed it all away. Most of it was stuff he could transfer to his own subordinates. He got to the last file and opened it curiously, eyes slowly widening as he scanned it. Then he smiled and picked up the phone, calling Sakura Orphanage.

"Moshi moshi." Ryou answered in his soft voice.

"Hey, Ryou-kun. It's Mokuba." Grey eyes scanned over the information; it was all there. Lists of potential parents for the kids, sponsored in the cases they didn't have enough for the adoption fees. Plans for the building to be demolished and and rebuilt to proper, modern standards. A bank account set up to transfer regular donations to the new orphanage when it got running, and all of it out of a private account from Seto's personal fortune. "When Anzu gets there, tell her that its all taken care of, okay?"

And on the inner flap of the file, a sticky note: _"One down, five to go. ~ Seto."_


End file.
